An Orphan Heart
by moriartyswife
Summary: My initial impression of him was that he was scary. Those men said he was an executive. I didn't know a lot about Port Mafia, but that must mean he's important. But, once we'd left, Dazai had changed. He seemed like a normal boy who hadn't just brutally killed a man or been asked to do it again. Our relationship had been a simple one at the start. Until people started to die.


Sneaking out of the foster home had been easy. I'd simply walked out the wide open front door. In the middle of summer, our air conditioner had broke weeks ago, so all the windows and doors were propped open to allow wind to flow through the roasting house. At this time of day, most everyone would be in the backyard, playing before dinner. My foster mother, Mrs. Ito, is in the kitchen, sweating over the stove to make enough food for all eleven of us. She's a nice lady and living here isn't that bad. We're just all cramped into this little house. My bedroom was shared by three other kids with two bunkbeds.

I've never done anything bad before, so no one would expect it. Hopefully this wouldn't take too long. It'll be dark soon and I don't like the dark. Holding the straps of my backpack tightly, I crossed the busy street. No one around seemed to notice me. Where I was headed, there wouldn't be many people. It was all the way across town, near the ocean.

The salty air stung my eyes. The warehouses around the port were rundown and rusty. There were a lot of them. The person I was searching for should be here somewhere. I have to at least try to make this work. A scuffling noise caught my attention from up ahead. I peaked around the corner, afraid to make any noise. My eyes grew wide at the sight before me.

There were five men standing around the one I'd seen before. He had lots of bandages, so it was easy to pick him out among the group. In front of him, there was a middle-aged man on the ground, his hands bound in front of him with some rope. He laid on the ground, with his mouth open, biting the step of the warehouse in front of him. The boy with the bandages raised his leg and landed a hard kick to the back of the man's head.

The bone made a sickening crack and blood squirted out onto the concrete. His body writhed in pain. He tried to speak but no words came out quite right. It looked to me like he was begging them not kill him, though it did no good. Three loud shots rang out, echoing through the metal pathways. It stung my ears and sent a wave of fear through me. Covering my ears with my hands and squeezing my eyes shut, I felt like I should run away… but I have to try! Taking a step back to gather my strength again, my foot hit a beer bottle, causing to roll noisily across the ground.

"The hell?!" One of the men had snatched my wrist before I could move. He was rough, jerking me forward to where the dead man laid, bleeding out on the ground. A smirk popped up on his face as he let go, allowing me to fall onto the ground. "Stupid kid."

I caught myself with my hands, only scrapping my knee on the concrete. It stung, bringing tears to my eyes. My whole body felt paralyzed with fear. I could feel all the scary men staring at me, wondering what to do. What should I do? It's not like they'll hear me out now after thinking I'm spying on them! More tears pooled in my eyes. I'm going to die before I can even ask!

The boy in bandages crouched down in front of me, resting his chin on his palm. "I've seen you before. Have you been following me?" It sounded like a question that he didn't need an answer to.

Raising my head to look at him, I nodded slowly. Up close, I noticed how young he must be. A teenager probably, like so many of the kids in the foster home. He seemed important to them, but how can he be when he's not an adult. "I-I…" No words came to mind. Something about him scared me. It's like he could see right through me.

"Why don't you tell me your name?" He asked. My silence must have showed how scared I was. "Okay, I'll start. My name is Osamu Dazai."

Sitting back on my knees, I swallowed down the lump in my throat. "Ki-Kikue Otsuka."

Dazai's lips pulled up in a warm smile. "Kikue, pretty name." He paused, debating what to do with me. "You've seen quite the violent act today, but you didn't run away. You must be doing something very important to you."

Oh, right! Slipping my arms out of my backpack, I set it in front of me and began to unzip it. The click of a gun made me freeze. I turned my head, seeing the barrel of a gun pointed directly at me. Is he going to shoot me? My hands trembled, and I leaned away from it. I could run, but the odds of me getting far were slim.

"Put the gun down," Dazai chastised, not taking his eyes off me. "Kikue, look at me. They aren't going to hurt you, okay?" He might be scary, but his soft voice made me feel safe.

The zipper got stuck once as I tried to open the backpack again. I dug through my papers that I'd drawn on to the bottom, where a huge stack of cash sat. Mom and Dad had left it for me and I'd stolen it out of the office a few days ago. What use do I have for it? My foster parents are good people. They wanted me to save it for college.

Dazai waited patiently for me to take it out.

"I-I-I need… you to kill someone," I said, holding out the money.

The men around him broke out in laughter. Someone mentioned that there wasn't near enough money for a port mafia executive to take on a personal job like that. They thought I was a joke, and that brought tears to my eyes. My gaze dropped to the ground. No one cares. I should just go home…

BANG.

My head snapped up at the sound of a gunshot. One of the men crippled to the ground, a bullet hole in his head. Dazai lowered the weapon. "Does anyone else want to insult her?" He asked, the threat dripping in his words. His attention returned to me, but his hard gaze stayed the same. "Do you understand what you're asking?"

"Yes," I answered confidently for the first time. This was the only thing that mattered to me. My foster family was good, but it wasn't home. That had been taken away from me last year. The reason why never made sense. A tragic accident, the police said. It wasn't an accident, and no one believed me. So, I have to get revenge for my parents on my own.

He took the money from my hand. "Well then, Kikue Otsuka, I'll take the job." He rose to his feet, the gun still dangling from his hand. "Come on, I'll make sure you get home safe." Dazai strode off in the direction I'd come from, not waiting for me.

Stuffing my papers back into the bag, I slung it over my shoulder and ran to catch up. He's tall, so his stride is hard to keep up with. "A-Aren't you going to ask me about the person?" I asked hesitantly. If he takes me home, then what? I guess the Port Mafia can find out about me in a second, but this man wasn't actually connected to us in the traditional sense.

"How old are you, Kikue?" Dazai asked, completely ignoring my question. He'd hidden his gun and locked his hands behind his head. He seemed to be more relaxed. A grin popped up on his face. "If I had to guess, I'd say you can't be older than five."

"I'm four…" I answered.

He kept me busy the whole walk home, asking random questions about me. Not once did he ask about who I wanted him to kill or why I wanted it to happen. Dazai is a lot more talkative, rarely letting me get a word in. He could guess practically everything there was to know about me. We stopped in front of the gate to the foster home. Bending down to be level with me, he stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Now then, I'll come back to see you in a few days and we'll talk about the job. I want you to think really hard about whether this is what you want or not, okay? Promise me."

Why? I didn't understand. "I promise."

Dazai patted my head. "Good girl. Run along." He stayed at the gate until I reached the porch before walking away, whistling to himself.

He's weird.

My initial impression of him was that he was scary. Those men said he was an executive. I didn't know a lot about Port Mafia, but that must mean he's important. But, once we'd left those men, Dazai had changed. He seemed like a normal boy who hadn't just brutally killed a man or been asked to do it again. It didn't take long for him to be out of sight. It didn't matter if he gave me a couple of days. I'd been thinking about this for a long time. The man who killed my parents should be punished. I can't do it on my own. I needed Dazai to help me. I won't let my parent's killer be free in this city! It isn't fair! I wanted him to die, more than anything else in the world!


End file.
